Watch any tendency to lean into a problem or situation. Is the leaning motivated by a resistance to the situation or by a desire to push your own agenda? Are you willing to drop what you want and ask, Where is the vertical stance in this moment? Start by finding easier ways to practice this vertical posture (standing in a slow-moving line at a grocery store or frozen in traffic), and then progress to the more difficult situations (with family or at work). What is the value to yourself and others of standing vertically rather than pushing forward or leaning backward?

The path involves learning how to marshal various emotions--grief, joy, desire, disgust, gladness, dispassion--some of which are normally regarded as negative. But they have their uses, so learn how to cultivate them all along the way. Without these emotions, the practice doesn't go anywhere. With them it can take you to release.